WBA super bantamweight champion Daniel Roman chats with Fight Hub TV about his upcoming title unification bout against TJ Doheny on April 26 as well as his possible future plans to move down to 118 to take Naoya Inoue. Check out some excerpts below with the full video above...
Roman on how he views his fight against Doheny:
“This was a fight that I was asking for, a unification bout. Even after I won the world title, this my next goal. I want to unify, I want to fight the best in my division, and for me the best in my division are the champions...I’m excited and it’s finally here.”
On what it’s like to be fighting at The Forum, in his hometown of Inglewood:
“Well, I never thought I’d be fighting at The Forum, ‘cause I think they stopped for a while and it came back with this boxing fight. So, [I’m] in a unification bout now. What more can I ask for? So I gotta train really hard so the belt can stay with me and get the rest of the belts.”
On if life is different since becoming a world champion:
“Yeah. You could say people still treat me the same, a little bit more respect. But I’m still the same Danny. I’m still the same [original] guy doing regular things. With me, nothing’s changed. I still believe I can achieve more, and that’s what I want. This is one step closer, the unification bout, to my goal. But I wanna get the rest, you know.”
On what he would do if he became undisputed champion at 122lbs:
“I could go down to 118. I feel like with a good diet I can. ‘Cause I’m still eating, even the week of the fight, you know. Even the day before I’m still having a little snack...I feel like with a good diet I can go down to 118, and hopefully win a world title there, and then later on maybe move up to 126.”
On why he thinks he could move down in weight without hindering himself:
“I don’t sacrifice [to make 122lbs] at all. I don’t sacrifice to a point where I’m not eating, you know? I’m eating everyday and I feel like if I take care of my weight a little bit before, I know I can make 118. Four pounds, that’ll be easy. Hopefully! I say it’s easy but...”
On why just a few pounds can make such a big difference in the lower weight classes:
“Roman Gonzalez, he went up in weight. So you’ve got guys from heavier weights coming down to what? 115, right? Even guys that fight at 122, they end up weighing close to 140, or 140...On the day of the fight I end up weighing like 128, 129. So I don’t go up a lot. And you see those guys go up close to 140...
“I don’t like doing that to my body, I feel weird, you know? So I start watching my diet with time ahead.”
On what would be his ultimate fight at 118:
“Well, we got ‘Monster’ [Inoue]. And we got the rest of the champions. Pretty good division, you know...For me, he’s one of the best in 118.”
On if he thinks Inoue will win the WBSS tournament:
“You know, I can say yeah but you never know in boxing. ‘Cause anything can happen in boxing. It just takes one punch. So, I mean, I wish the best for him but I wish the best for the other guys. Let the best win, that’s my opinion.”
On how he would fight someone like Inoue who is a supremely dynamic fighter:
“I haven’t thought about it because I’ve been busy [laughs]...If later on it ends up happening we’ll work on the technique, we’ll work on something — figure him out.”